My Fashionable Life

Oh no! That is so, so sad. I would imagine that whoever found it would know it is something to be treasured. I'm sorry for your loss. I would be crushed!

Oh dear... I'm really sorry to hear this. It's such a beautiful piece... and so beautiful that I can't imagine anyone not loving it.

Ohhh, thats so sad!!! Dont you just hate that?? Things that nice need a tracking device!!

How sad, Anna. If it were me I would be trying to think about how the universe was trying to teach me lessons about letting go of material desires and how I was maybe one step closer to enlightenment....and then I would rush out and buy myself three more skeins of cashmere.

I was sad enough when I lost an ivory linen CASH CA wrap. Losing a handknitted stole like yours doesn't bear thinking about. Sad!

How terrible. I wish you had lost a pair of jeans or something else - it's just heartbreaking to lose a handknit. Have you thought about calling the bus line? Perhaps they have a lost and found?

Oh no, that's so sad. Try phoning the bus company; I found them very helpful when I lost my mobile phone, each bus garage has their own safe where lost and found is kept.

I remember when I lost my best mittens; a pair I deemed "perfect" and had for years. I like to think that the next person who got into the cab that cold day desperately needed a pair...

ACK! That's just awful! I'm so glad I got to meet Dundonnell back in December--such a lovely piece of knitting.

I just recovered my cell phone after having lost it for a whole week--in a lost and found at the tennis center. Maybe some kind person will hold it for you. Maybe it will turn up.

Do you have any service like Craig's List in England? It's a website that has all sorts of handy things and people post 'missed connection' notices when they see someone they like on the bus and don't have the courage to say hello. I'd imagine they have a lost and found sort of section...

Or you could post posters!

I'm so sorry. That would make me very very sad as well.

Your wrap is up in Handknit Heaven, hanging out with my red hat.

I am just about to cast-on the same stole! I think you may have a good short story here - of the person in some sort of need who came across your stole.

oooh no, my thoughts are with you and the loss of your stole! I'm SURE whomever has it will cherish it!

The thought of you leaving that beautiful shawl makes me ill. However difficult it could be, you have a very positive attitude to whomever finds it. I find it karmic.

I'm so sorry! And unfortunately I know how you feel. I lost a sweater once, it was the first one I ever made that came out. It fell out of my bag at the mall and by the time I realized it was gone there was no finding it anywhere. I actually cried. And I have to say I wasn't so gracious about hoping it's being treasured by whoever found it!

Hard as it may be, I do try to think of everything that happens actually happens for a reason. Like Knittingewe mentioned in her comment, perhaps whoever found it was in need of it coming into their lives for some unknown reason. Where they cold and needed something to warm up in? Perhaps it will bridge a distance long ago forged and only now can it be bridged by the loveliness of the stole. Maybe someone older found it and it is bringing back many a fond memory of times gone by and people that have passed.

Who knows? But just remember, just as the knitting sprites saw fit that you should have just enough to complete it, they have decided for reasons known unto them only, that it needs to touch someone elses life right now.

Take comfort in the comfort that it is SURELY bringing to whoever now has it.

(Although, I might actually also put up some notices with a picture? Maybe along the routes you took with it? - just a thought)

Say it isn't so! :-( That was a truly beautiful bit of knitting. I'm so sorry!

At least it has plenty of misplaced mittens and gloves to keep it company.

oh no, anna that is so sad! i LOVE that shawl of yours and had thought about knitting one myself. in exact same shade. i hope you'll recover it!

Don't give up hope! Several years ago, I lost the very first piece I designed, a fair isle tam. I wore it every day in winter, but then lost it after meeting a friend for lunch. I searched everywhere I could think of, but it was gone. I really mourned the loss of that hat, because I had put so much of myself in it.

Then the next spring, just as the snow was finally melting away, I found it! It spent the winter buried away in a snowbank. It was filthy and needed a few small repairs, but I had it back.

And I still wear it every day.

Maybe, just maybe, your beautiful scarf will make its way back to you, too.

It actually hurt to read this - the stole was one of my all-time favorites of yours, or anyone elses for that matter.

oh dear - such a beauty. I'm sure the new "owner" will cherish it.. yet what a loss.

I'm so sorry to hear that - pieces like that contain such a big part of us - it truly is a heartwrenching loss. I do hope the finder appreciates it.

Too, too sad. It makes me want to put tracking devices on everything I knit. But, the added weight might not do so well on something as delicate as a cashmere shawl. And the blinking tracking light might not be entirely fashionable, either. But there is the peace of mind to be had. Surely, wherever it may be now, it is being loved and adored.

Oh no! How distressing. Perhaps we should all consider adding labels to our most precious items so that if they fall into kind hands, we may get them back. Perhaps a phone number (relatively short) or the URL to our blog. Of course that would work better on a sweater than a lace shawl, but it's worth a thought.

i'm soooo sorry to hear this.

Oh no! I'm so sorry Anna. Like you said hopefully whoever finds it will cherish it.

I am so sorry to read that your cherished stole is lost. I hope whoever finds it will somehow be able to feel and see the love that went into knitting that stole.

How sad! I'm so sorry.

Have you called around to places you might have left the shawl? Usually bus/train companies have lost and found departments. Or called the optometrist? I'm sure you have, but except for the mention of Craig's List, no one else seems to be saying the obvious.

I'm so so sorry....

I'm so sorry. I've lost a few similarly cherished items over the years, and will occasionally still wonder if their new owners love them as much as I did. It's really not so much about the thing itself as it is about the time they were gifted, purchased or made. It tends to make me feel as if I've lost a small, tangible bit of my own history. I have to remind myself that while the touchstone is gone, the memories will always be mine.

oh this story brought tears to my eyes. four years ago i lost a pale ivory cabled hat my danish mom knit for me. i watched her knit it over months watching tv, more watching the pattern than the tv, and when i realized my hat was gone, i was devastated. i still look for it on the train in the winter and have never had the heart to tell her i lost it. i know how you feel.

That is so sad, I feel very sorry for you. A hand-knitted stole, especially such an enormously huge one is naturally very special. Maybe the finder will cherish it in this way.
However, I would try all the tips some others mentioned above. Call the bus line, the local lost and found and I like the idea of pinning notices with a picture of it along your way. The finder might not have noticed that it is hand-knitted and carries memories but learning about that might be the spark needed to actually bother returning it to its owner.
Good luck!

Oh my gosh that's heartwrenching. I bloody well hope they do treasure it, whoever the lucky sod is!

how maddening... i do hope that it makes its way back to you, if not, it will probably cherished in its new home

:(

maybe you will find it again.....

Oh no! I'm so sorry for you!

:(

but i do hope there's a happy ending to this...

Nooooooooooo! Commiserations.

"It makes me want to put tracking devices on everything I knit."
Then you'd have to worry about your sweater getting a virus and taking a really long time to warm up, and generally being slow and squidgy. No one wants that.

I once bought an oilskin General's trenchcoat at the Salvation Army. I spent hours removing all the epilets and flaps and collar and so on, so I ended up with a minimalist version. It was quite nice. Very unique. Then in big letters, on the inside flaps I painted "Yes" on one side and "No" on the other, so I could answer people at a distance ;-)

Anyway, I took the coat off in the park and it was nabbed. (Who's gonna steal a coat? No, not a shivering homeless person.) I don't even think anyone wanted it. I think it was a small-minded bid to rid the world of difference. People hate that. (That's why there were no homeless people in the park.) The coat was just too unusual, so it paid the ultimate price: the rubbish bin.

I'm so sorry. I can't imagine the frustration. Maybe it was so beautiful that it needed more than one owner. Maybe it will travel in its lifetime.

I'm so sorry- that shawl's inspired me to try lace.

But back to the practical, call the bus company and/ or the tube, cover all the bases -things don't always get found/handed in the day they're lost.

And order yourself some beautiful yarn.

Oh, that makes my heart hurt! Condolences Anna.

Oh no! Did you try looking in the "lost and found"? Perhaps some good samaritan turned it in!

Oh, I'm so sorry! I lost my very first scarf on a business trip when I had a terrible cold and couldn't think straight. I have just a tiny scrap of yarn left to remind me what it looks like. I will keep my fingers crossed that your stole will still turn up somewhere!

That's such sad news! Handknits aren't supposed to develop minds of their own and walk away like that..... I'm sorry!

Have you tried craigslist?

oh anna, i'm so sorry to read this post! maybe you could take it as a sign to buy more cashmere yarn? ;)

so so sorry hun, what a nightmare, theres nothing worse than losing a handknit thats had so much love and thought put into it!!! I do hope that fate will bring it home to you in some way or another. xxx

Hi Anna, so sorry to hear this, thats awful, I suppose you have rung the bus company and reported it, that happened to me a few years ago with my handbag,which had purse keys and everything inside , but I eventually got everything back in full tact, three weeks later, apprantly a lady had handed to the bus driver, who forgot to hand in to the depot and he went on holiday for a fornight and then brought it in when he returned. I was so pleased and relived, even though I had changed the locks and cancelled credit cards etc, so your shawl may still come back to you, never give up hope! Tracy x

Oh, that's really sad. I also think that sometimes things happen to try and make us move in a different direction, I would be thinking the same thing as Ashley! What about knitting it again in a different colour, and then if it turns up in the future you'll have two! (I'm not good at letting things go!)

Sorry Anna, that last e-mail was from me! I couldn't have put the details in correctly before posting, Doh!!!

My daughter lost the first hat that she knit while traveling in Cyprus. At least she's hoping that it found a good home. Sad to lose things that you've made.

*still crying*

I'm sooooo sorry, Anna! I light a candle for your shawl, wherever it is.

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about your beautiful stole. I'm sure someone out there is very happy and will give her a good home.

Dear Anna, perhaps the sweetest things we hold onto in life, aren't material...they are memories...when, in the future, your children ask you for a bedtime story, tell them of the mystery of the Dundonnell stole, how you created something very beautiful, held it for a moment, and then it was lost to the world...each time you tell the story, it will be different...perhaps it was found by a young girl on a journey from Scotland to Australia, where she was to marry a very rich, but heartless man....as your children get older, they will finish the story....each time with a different person finding the stole, each time the stole will bless the finder in a different way....in our home, we are always looking for ways to be creative....Blessings to you Anna!

Oh Anna, my heart aches for you! I've lost a few hand-knitted items, but nothing this breathtakingly beautiful. But I love Cassie Kemp's idea that somewhere out there the stole is bringing beauty to someone else, and how interesting it might be to imagine what kind of life it's leading now.

Maybe you can find comfort in the idea that there is no way you can lose your knitting skills and artistic talents by leaving them on a bus or a train. You still have all you need to create another beautiful wrap.

My husband s elderly aunt was always losing things - didnt care though - she would say
Well............thats that gone for a burton - an expression you dont hear much these days.

Never one to overestimate the goodness of my fellow man, I'm willing to wonder if someone didn't steal your stole...It could be why you didn't think to grab it up from its spot next to you, and it would most certainly mean that it is a loved garment. :)

A pox upon the thief!

What a tragedy! it is so beautiful! In some ways, not knowing its fate is best, because you can fix it however you please in your mind. I am certain that it is cherished though.

I think you are very stoical and it does hurt losing things. The only practical advice I can offer is to try a prayer to St Antony of Padua if checking the lost property offices at the train and bus stations already suggested doesn't work.

Sadness. It may be that you have let it go in your mind and don't want your hopes up but it might be worth checking with the bus company lost and found. I had a bag stolen once and it got turned in, minus the cash, but everything else in tact.

Hej,
I´va bought your Jemima-pattern and i like it so much...now i´m knitting my own, but i have one question: How long ist the sweater totally ?(maybe i have to knit it a little bit longer)
Thanks a lot for the great pattern
Caterina

Oh no thats terrible :(
Perhaps though, you loss may happen to fall into the right hands and inspire another person to knit. Still, I'd rather it somehow to find it's way back to you. Here's hoping it turns up again!

Oh Anna I am so sorry - the stole is one of the most beautiful pieces of knitting I have ever seen and to read of the associations - it must have been made with love and tears. It should have been an heirloom for you. Maybe one day you could bring yourself to replace it, perhaps when Scottish skies are blue again. I wish I could go out and find it for you. xx

What a sad story!! Hopefully it will still turn up one day ... ?! I made your spindle socks back in Dec, and thought I'd tell you that I finally posted about them on my blog! Take care ...

There is no way to compensate for losing something that you have put so much time, effort and care into creating. I am sad for you, but the lovely object you created lives on and is giving joy to someone. I guess that is how we all maintain our spirit, but know that every creative person understands your feeling of loss.

Oh, I'm so sorry. I hate losing handknits! I'm always really paranoid about losing my fingerless gloves that I made in Lorna's Laces. Hopefully you'll find it or bring yourself to knitting it again.

I'm so sorry about your losing that beautiful stole. On a flight across country which included stops and security checks, I lost a bag holding sentimental jewelry. Whenever I think about wearing one of those pieces, I lift a thought that the person who "found" the jewelry has had her spirits lifted by their beauty. It's helped me to think that something I treasured and lost may be bringing joy to another.

Wow! I've actually never really thought about the horrific fact of losing something I had knit. I'm so sorry you lost it, it must break your heart. It's so beautiful I bet the person who found it will love it almost as much as you did. I'm going to look into getting some personal tags with info on them to sew into my knit FO's in case I lose one.

My whole life is about loosing things. Sometimes I find them again. And then you realise how much the things mean to you.
I lost my first scarf I ever knitted - but then found it again a few days later. I almost cried as it took me months re-knitting the thing until it was stitch perfect (Ok that's a lie. There is one out-of-place stitch in the whole 6ft thing). But it was at a small town school where it was obvious if someone had taken it and decided to wear it as their own.
I then went through a phase of loosing gloves on the bus to Uni (after my bike was stolen) a pair a week. I was always stupid enough to buy nice leather ones as well (being a cyclist, wool tends to turn to felt when you wear woolen gloves in the rain for a while) so I was crushed when I lost my *ultimate* gloves which were soft leather with cashmere lining. I phoned up every bus lost property depot the No 74 could have sent its contents to for about a month. Still... I hope someone is warm handed out there (though how their hand fits mine is another mystery)... and expensively bought another pair when I saw the same brand being sold. Although I hadn't made them I felt so attached.

Then there was the silly missing wallet and gloves fiasco - left the wallet and gloves on the seat next to mine and when I got off cleanly forgot about them. Had to miss an hour off lectures chasing around every credit card company and getting my security card re-made. Only to find out at lunch that some lovely chap working at Harrods had picked them up and was holding them for me in Harrods (which was probably closer to college than the bus depot anyway and a nice excuse to rush through that emporium of overpriced tousisty pizzaz) and even phoned my Uni department (due to college security card) to tell them. I did forget to ask him for the gloves though!

Sometimes things go missing for a reason and then other times they will find their way back. Atleast you have photographs if you email the baker street lost property people (which is where all lost property apparently ends up.)

that must be sickening. im sorry.

I too am so sorry to hear that your stole was lost. I found your blog a few days ago and am quite enthralled! What beautiful handknits you are making!

I am so sorry about your stole. I can't imagine how awful that must be. So much work. The dedication of it though was the part that got me the most. Perhaps a sweet old lady found it and wears it while rocking and knitting on her porch, wondering who made such a beautiful and warm shawl that gives her so much joy. :)

I feel for you! The heartache over the loss, and the philosophical conclusion. I just lost a lace scarf I made for myself and loved. Even as I kick myself for losing it, I know that part of the value of a handknit is that you never lose the skills, or the experience of having knit it.